Cruz, 41, oldest to hit 3O HRs in year, Rays bop Bosox 12-7

BOSTON (AP) — Nelson Cruz homered twice and, at 41 years old, became the oldest player in major league history to hit 30 home runs in a season, powering the Tampa Bay Rays past the Boston Red Sox 12-7 Tuesday night.

Mike Zunino also homered twice and Jordan Luplow connected for the team with the best record in the American League and the highest-scoring club in the majors.

Rays rookie Wander Franco went 0 for 4 with a walk, extending his on-base streak to 37 games and passing Mickey Mantle (1951-52) for the longest by an AL player under 21 years old. The 20-year-old Franco now trails only Frank Robinson, who reached in 43 straight in 1956.

A day after the Rays needed to rally from a six-run deficit to outlast Boston 11-10 in 10 innings, they coasted to an 11-1 lead and won their seventh straight road game.

“Scored a lot of runs and continued to get those big hits and use the Fenway wall to our advantage," Rays manager Kevin Cash said.

Tampa Bay increased its AL East lead to 9 1/2 games over New York. The Red Sox again missed a chance to move ahead of the Yankees for the top AL wild-card spot.

“As a group (the Rays) did a good job covering the bottom part of the zone,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “Zunino the homer and Nelson did, too. So, we’ll take a look at it and see what really happened and we’ll be ready for the next one.”

Cruz hit a two-run homer in the third inning and a solo drive in the fifth, giving him 447 in his career and his eighth 30-homer season. He passed David Ortiz (38 in 2016) and Darrell Evans (34 in 1987), who were both 40 when they hit the mark.

“That’s definitely a privilege. David Ortiz means so much to baseball, also he’s Dominican,” said Cruz, who's also from the Dominican Republic. “So, it’s an honor to be by his side.”

Cruz also...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Cruz-oldest-to-hit-3O-HRs-in-a-season-Rays-bop-16441887.php